How can be a home terrace used effectively? 25+ cool ideas for you

When you build an open terrace for new home you may have many plans in mind. You might think about gardening or a good place for family get-together in the evenings. Some people even plan in mind to add extra rooms in that space later. Except a few occasions, terrace is left as such, and used for drying clothes or pickles. If you think wise, you can use that space to plan something which earns you good revenue as well. Here are a few cool ideas.

Let us give some makeovers to terrace first

1. You can do tress work for your open terrace. It gives extra protection for your building, apart from giving a good space to plan anything. You can also use mesh to cover its borders or construct a concrete wall. You can also partition your terrace as you want. Another advantage of tress work is that it reduces the heat of ground floor.

2. Terrace can be used a utility space for daily needs. Apart from adding beauty to home, it’s more important to use each and every space usefully.

3. Apart from drying clothes, you can use this space to wash clothes and iron too. You can cover a small portion of terrace to avoid exposure to sunlight where you can put your washing machine. You can also set ironing table nearby. Make a big box with three partitions where you can put clothes to wash, to iron and ironed ones separately. Open basket is good for placing dirt clothes and open space in terrace can be used to drying purposes.

4. You can arrange dine hour area in the open terrace, which can help you to escape from daily boredom. On holidays you can serve food here.

5. Find enough storage space is a tedious process in every home. Lengthy items which take a lot of space for storage such as ladders, buckets and gardening equipment can be placed in terrace. You can also put extra bed, tables, chairs, mattresses or anything of less usage in terrace. It saves a lot of space in your interior, and also provides a good space to work or play in the terrace.

6. For a birthday celebration or party, you can arrange it in the terrace. If you have frequent parties or friend visits, you can also make permanent arrangements for buffet counter, table etc.

7. Private space for the family can be provided in terrace. Make your terrace tress proof first, and provide seats one side. It’s a good space to get free air, watch stars at night or a chat. You can also inbuilt seats with bay windows to add privacy and beauty to the space.

A garden in your terrace

8. Since earlier days many people have used terrace to grow plants and vegetables, mostly with those who didn’t have sufficient space in courtyard or with space less exposed to sunlight. Now also terrace is the best space to grow vegetables.

9. Open space in terrace gets good sunlight and that’s one of the reasons why farming is a great success. Sunlight is best for flowering plants too. Even if you have a garden in your courtyard, you can place a few flowering plants in the front side of your terrace, which adds extra beauty to your exterior.

10. When you use terrace for farming purposes, provisions for drainage is equally important. If water is blocked on terrace, it can damage and also patches to the ceiling and inner walls of your home. Gradually it may result in leakage and related problems.

11. Drip irrigation is best for terrace farming and gardening. When the tap is opened, water drops are sprinkled uniformly on the pots. As it avoids overflow of excess water, it reduces moisture of floor a lot. You can also use a single pipe to fix taps from one end to another, and place pots or sacks beneath it. Watering is also easy.

12. Aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture to grow fish and hydroponics – the art of growing soil-less plants can be done in terrace. You can buy it as a single unit. Equipment for farming and fertilizers should also be stored in terrace. Find suitable space for that.

13. Flower gardens are beautiful – either it’s courtyard or open terrace. If you are planning for some source of income through gardening, orchids could be the best choice. Cover the space for farming with green net. Also orchids need less water, making your maintenance process easy. Also it adds less moisture content to your floor.

14. Terrace can be used to grow pets. You can use this space for an aquarium or grow love birds, hen, rabbit, finches etc. But you should provide provisions to remove the waste. You can grow pets as your hobby or to earn income.

Some ideas should be implemented during construction phase

15. During house planning itself, you should have a clear idea about terrace and for what purpose it can be used. If so provisions for plumping and electricity for terrace can be provided in the construction phase itself. Plug points for washing machine and ironing table or extra lights for family’s private space can be added earlier. It saves a lot of labour cost later.

16. After construction you may get extra tiles or damaged ones, which can be used for terrace. Such broken tiles can also be used for flooring purposes for your office space in terrace. It adds a different look to your office space.

17. Fold ceiling is the best option to reduce the heat of terrace. Cheap materials like PVC and thermocol can be used for this purpose.

18. Swimming pool in terrace – this idea is now experimented by many. If you have similar plans, do it in construction phase itself. Otherwise it’s not practical to add later.

19. A foldable chair and table can be placed in terrace. It can be used for work purposes or to relax. You can also use it for study purposes of children or space to teach.

Space for recreation and exercises

20. Terrace is the ideal space for home gyms, where you can put treadmill and exerciser cycle. If you are lazy to go to gym in the early morning, home gym is the best option. You can arrange your exercise time as per your convenience. Meditating space can also be arranged in terrace.

21. Barbeque area can be provided in terrace. Prepare a slab and place bricks in a square shape. Such spaces are effective for home parties.

22. It can also be used to set bar counters. Set a stand to place bottles and glasses. Use good lighting techniques for such spaces. Take care not to interfere the privacy of neighbours while setting such spaces.

23. Library at terrace, Is it possible? Terrace is the best space to read and to place books. But book shelves should be placed in such a way that rainwater should not damage them.

24. You can enclose a corner area of your terrace for recreation. Chess board, caroms or any game of your choice – terrace provides a good option for you. You can also play indoor games such as table tennis in the space provided here. When you arrange kids’ play in terrace, first preference should be given for safety.

Some business ideas for terrace

25. If you have plans to open a tailoring shop and rental space is the main problem, terrace space can be used for similar business ideas. Terrace can save you the money to pay rent, if you can convert them to business spaces.

26. Small business setups for ladies such as pickles, chips, jam etc can be done in the terrace space. Apart from provide the best space for such projects, it also ensures woman safety. You can also make and sell handicraft products.

27. You can construct office space at home, if you are of work-from-home type. If there are visitors, it’s better option to provide staircase from outside. Apart from office room, you can provide seats for customers in terrace.

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